Cooperative Interventions by Police, Mental Health and Other Agencies:

For more than 10 years, the Memphis Police Department has used trained police officers to intervene in crisis situations involving mentally ill individuals. Mental health providers and the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill support the approach and participate in training officers who volunteer for CIT. This integrated approach has proven effective in diverting mentally ill individuals to treatment in the community.

The success of CIT is attributed to a number of collaborative efforts by law enforcement and the treatment community:

1. The city has committed resources to community-based treatment for the mentally ill
2. Treatment facilities cooperate in facilitating the transfer from police custody to mental health facilities
3. Programs for pretrial diversion are in place
4. Transportation, detox, treatment, and housing programs exist
5. About half the crisis calls are resolved on the scene
6. A regional medical center’s emergency room provides a holding and triage facility

Since 1993, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Mental Evaluation Team (MET) has saved an average of $2,200 per case in reduced jail costs and officer time by pairing uniformed officers with mental health professionals to respond quickly. MET members defuse situations involving individuals in a psychiatric crisis, and arrange admissions as needed. Meanwhile, the San Diego Police Department’s Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) has built on the concept, with the goal of eliminating unnecessary incarcerations. In the first two years of operation, PERT handled 3,000 cases, only one percent of which resulted in incarceration. The rest were assisted through county mental health facilities.

3. King County (Seattle, Washington)

Officers participating in the Seattle Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team receive 40 hours of training in recognizing and intervening in mental health crisis situations. Mentally ill or addicted individuals are transported to a 24-hour triage center for screening, treatment and referral to follow-up treatment. The Seattle CIT program was a response to a study which found that one-third of the county’s 2,000 homeless and severely mentally ill people had some contact with the criminal justice system.

4. Bernalillo County (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

When the County’s Detention Center came under court order to reduce its population, a lawsuit was filed to improve the Detention Center’s services to the mentally ill. The New Mexico Alliance for the Mentally Ill convened community groups to foster communication and cooperation between the criminal justice system and the mental health system. This consortium was able to obtain state Department of Health funding to establish a jail diversion program for mentally ill misdemeanants. Pretrial services program personnel now work with law enforcement and mental health professionals to keep mentally ill defendants out of jail and in treatment.

Both pre-and post-booking diversion are provided. A mental health Crisis Intervention Team within the police department is trained to intervene and transport individuals to local mental health agencies for evaluation or treatment. A post-booking diversion program involves screening by pretrial services personnel for conditional release. Mental health professionals are available to assist in development of a treatment plan and a recommendation for the judge. The program is estimated to save the county $400,000 per year.